The Colony of Unrequited Dreams

This is an ambitious book that attempts to redefine all we think we know of Joey Smallwood. To take this genuine and formidable NL character and use him in such a meaty work of historical fiction was brave of Wayne Johnson to say the least. To read his quirky earlier works and then dive into "Colony" is to dive with Johnson out of his comfort level and enter a new realm of possibility in the work of fiction.

Colony illustrates everything that is right about a good historical fiction. Take something and someone you believe you know and place it under the microscope of daily live where characters love and lose, win and fail.

Wayne Johnson's masterpiece.

Unless you wish to spend your valuable time reading a novel that is drier than the paper upon which it's written it's not worth it. A very depressing, long labour to read.

In 1949 the British colony of Newfoundland and Labrador entered Confederation to become the youngest province in the Dominion of Canada. The man responsible for the political move was Joey Smallwood. Smallwood was a curious figure from the start. A man convinced of his own history and somewhat of a Canadian with a Napoleon complex. Too bad for Smallwood that the island of Newfoundland had not the resources nor he the access to build an empire. However, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, is a sweeping fictional tale based on an actual person. Spanning 50 years in the life of a consuming ambition, this book seeks to explain the strange and odd policies that emerged from the very first premier of Newfoundland. Smallwood had desired to be Prime Minister of Great Britian but settled for his own inaugural leadership role. Today he is as much a part of the province as Churchill still is to Britain.

The Colony of Unrequited Dreams is about a man, a vision, a political hunger without a core compass, and a love that remains forever just a wish. The female Fielding character is an imaginative stresser for Joey through the years, but she embodies the heart of his dreams that are sabotaged by his own inner ghosts and frustrations.

Johnston manages to combine a fictional story, actual historical events and even a bit of romance in this entertaining look at how Joey Smallwood, Newfoundland's most famous premier, managed to fulfill his dream of fame and recognition. As the young Smallwood gets older, he leaves Newfoundland for New York, a place where he thinks he can make something of himself. After struggling there for several years, he returns home to fight his way into politics - and history. I really enjoyed this twist on the province's most controversial political story.